Oscar nominations: The Artist leads the wayTribute to silent cinema nominated in five major categoriesJan 24th 2012 By George Wales

The nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards have been announced, with The Artist leading the way with five nominations in major categories, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor.

The announcement wasn’t peppered with shocks, although there were one or two surprises along the way, with Gary Oldman receiving a surprise nomination for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, but Michael Fassbender missing out for Shame.

Drive was one of the highest profile films to be passed over (gettnig just one nod for Sound Editing), whilst Tintin was overlooked in the Animated Film category. Meanwhile, Melissa McCarthy garnered a rare supporting actress nod for a comedy performer, having been recognised for her sterling work in Bridesmaids.

Hugo got the most nominations overall (11), with The Artist following closely behind (10). Transformers: Dark Of The Moon and The Tree Of Life are neck and neck with three each.

Take a look at the list below for full details of who has got the nod for the key awards at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony on 26 February…

Irish and Irish American actors and themes are making a big splash with this year’s Academy Award nominations which were announced earlier this morning. Delivering the nominations live were actress Jennifer Lawrence and the president of the Academy Tom Sherak.

Not surprisingly, Irish actress Rooney Mara was nominated for Best Lead Actress for her work in the film adaptation of the popular book series ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.’ The film, which is the first in its trilogy, is also nominated for Best Cinematography.

Glenn Close’s project ‘Albert Nobbs’ which was filmed in Dublin made an impression on Academy voters, garnering two major nominations. The film, set in 19th century Ireland, tells the story of a woman (portrayed by Close) who is passing as a man to advance herself in society. Close is nominated alongside Rooney Mara for Best Leading Actress, and Janet McTeer is nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the film.

In what many to consider to be her big breakout role, Irish American actress Melissa McCarthy secured the nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in this summer’s smash hit comedy ‘Bridesmaids.’ McCarthy is the only actor from the film nominated, though the film itself is nominated for Best Original Writing. McCarthy won an Emmy this past September for her role on the CBS comedy ‘Mike and Molly.’

Also nominated for Best Supporting Actress is Irish American Jessica Chastain for her role in ‘The Help.’ Chastain is nominated alongside her co-star from the film Octavia Spencer. The film adaptation of the popular book secured several other nominations as well, including Best Picture, and Best Actress in a Leading Role (Viola Davis).

George Clooney, whose father is set to be the focus of an upcoming documentary exploring the Clooney’s Irish roots, is nominated for Best Leading Actor for his role in ‘The Descendants.’ The film is also nominated for Best Picture, Best Directing and Best Adapted Writing. Clooney won the Golden Globe for Best Actor for his role in ‘The Descendants;’ does that mean he has the Oscar secured, too?

Clooney’s other big film for 2011, ‘The Ides of March’, is also nominated for Best Adapted Writing.

Belfast native Kenneth Branagh is nominated for his role in the Marilyn Monroe biopic ‘My Week with Marilyn.’ His co-star Michelle Williams is nominated for her portrayal of Monroe in the movie.

Meryl Streep is nominated - for an astounding 17th time - for her portrayal of once British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the film ‘The Iron Lady.’ Streep’s nomination is the only major one for the film.

Nick Nolte is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in ‘Warrior,’ a film about an Irish family in Pittsburgh.

Snubbed from this year’s nominations is Co Kerry native Michael Fassbender for his gripping role in the graphic film ‘Shame,’ which is about an Irish born sex-addict.

Who are your picks to bring home trophies on this year’s February 5th Academy Awards? Share in the comments below!

Here is the list of the major award nominations for 2012 from CelebrityCafe.com :

It’s that special time of year when the line is drawn in the sand between moviegoers and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which revealed the nominees for the 84th Academy Awards earlier today, because there’s always disagreement over who got the nod and who got the shaft. Hit the jump to see if your favorites made the cut.

I haven’t seen many of the films on the list (Oscar and I rarely see eye-to-eye) but I am shocked that a few names are missing. Michael Fassbender, who seemed to own 2011, isn’t anywhere to be found? TinTin isn’t up for Best Animated Film? Drive gets a nod for sound editing and nothing else? Someone really got shafted there.

You can check out the list below and then find out who takes the little guy named Oscar home on Sunday, February 26, on ABC.

Best Picture

The Artist The Descendants Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close The Help Hugo Midnight in Paris Moneyball The Tree of Life War Horse

It's Academy Award Nominations Day, which means for every sure-thing nominee to applaud (go George Clooney!) or fan fave who squeaks in (woo hoo Melissa McCarthy!), there's a snub to bemoan (where's Albert Brooks?) or a huge surprise to marvel at (who's Demian Bichir?), and this year's list of Oscar hopefuls contains several shockers.

Before we start a month of predictions and odds-making, let's take a moment to point out the many ways the Academy missed the mark or pleasantly surprised us with their picks.HugoParamountHugonian Domination

We hope Martin Scorsese thanks his wife this morning for demanding he make a movie their 12-year-old daughter could actually see. The Oscar winner's adaptation of a beloved children's book just scored an impressive 11 nominations in basically everything except the performance categories (most notable snubbing: Sir Ben Kingsley). Although it's highly the movie will sweep "Return of the King"-style, it's still a coup for the quintessential New Yorker's film to receive the most nominations of the year.Extremely Loud and Incredibly Nominated

After missing the deadline to be named in most of the critics' best-of-2011 lists and then being passed over for the Globes, it seemed Stephen Daldry's emotional adaptation would remain a tearjerker without any acclaim. But the Academy obviously responded to the 9/11 drama, particularly Max von Sydow's wordless performance; he's up for Best Supporting Actor. Even more surprising? The movie grabbed one of the coveted Best Picture spots.Melissa McCarthy Better Pick Out Dress Again

Melissa McCarthy may not have nabbed a Golden Globes nomination for her hilariously scene-stealing performance in "Bridesmaids," but the Academy more than made up for the Hollywood Foreign Press' mistake. Not only is McCarthy scoring one for funny ladies everywhere, but she has proven pretending to poop is a fine art. She faces tough competition, but McCarthy is already a winner to us.Albert Brooks Won't Need Driver

Despite receiving several accolades and award nominations for his surprisingly against-type role as a Los Angeles gangster in "Drive," Brooks was completely (and unforgivably) overlooked for the Academy Awards. We don't want to blame anyone, but it looks like Max von Sydow and/or Jonah Hill stole Brooks' place. And while we're complaining about Brook's lack of a nomination, it's a shame that Nicholas Winding Refn's beautifully acted critical darling isn't represented, save for a Best Sound Editing nod.No Love for Genre Pics in Best Pic CategoryThe Girl With the Dragon TattooSony

Some movies just can't break out of their genres. Even with universally fabulous reviews, a ton of fans and stellar casts, movies like "Bridesmaids," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II" and "The Girl With the Drag Tattoo" were all frozen out of the Best Picture race. Is it because James Cameron didn't direct them? We'll never know, but we're still sad (especially about "Potter").DiCaprio J.Snubbed

Leonardo DiCaprio is no stranger to the Academy Awards; he's been nominated three times, but this was not his year. The "J. Edgar" star's transformation into the legendary FBI head may have been a classic case of Clint Eastwood Oscar bait, but the Academy (for once) didn't bite. Sorry, Leo, but there's always 2013. If anything should earn you some Oscar gold, it's playing Jay Gatsby.'Tree of Life' Has Enough Ardent Fans

Never underestimate how many Hollywood insiders adore Terrence Malick. The auteur's polarizing treatise on the meaning of life and family didn't score any Golden Globe nominations, but now it's competing in two major categories (Best Picture and Best Director), not just Cinematography as expected. And with its stars Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt nominated for other films, there will be plenty of 'Life' love on Oscars night.Shailene Woodley Loses Inheritance

She had one of the biggest breakouts of 2011, but the young actress who went toe-to-toe with George Clooney will have to wait for an Academy Award nomination. Instead, the voters selected Jessica Chastain – ostensibly for "The Help," but probably for impressing audiences in "The Tree of Life" and "Take Shelter" as well last year.

Jonah Hill in MoneyballSonyJonah Hill, Oscar Nominee

What a milestone year for Jonah Hill. Not only did he lose 40 pounds and join the elite list of men who can claim a Brad Pitt bromance, but he also received an Academy Award nomination for playing Pitt's geektastic sidekick in "Moneyball." And whether or not he goes home with Oscar gold (our money's on Christopher Plummer, who has yet to win), he's now got bragging rights over Seth Rogen, Jason Segel and the rest of his bros.The Girl With the Oscar Nomination

Last year, Rooney Mara made waves for beating out scores of other Hollywood starlets to land the much-desired role of Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher's Americanized take on "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." This year, the 26-year-old actress proved she was the right woman for the job with an Academy Award nomination. We couldn't be more chuffed, because Mara killed as the badass private investigator, and we can't wait to see her play the mysteriously inked character again and again.We Need to Talk About Tilda Swinton

Swinton's much lauded portrayal of maternal horror in the difficult-to-watch "We Need To Talk About Kevin" (even seasoned movie lovers like us found it cringe-inducing at times) must have been a little too hard for the Academy voters to screen, because Swinton was surprisingly left off the Best Actress list. We think Swinton's nomination went to Rooney Mara instead.Hello Animated Features We've Never Heard Of

We're not sure what happened to "The Adventures of Tintin," but the nominations for Best Animated Feature included two films that have been completely off our radar: "A Cat in Paris" and "Chico & Rita." Both are foreign animated films ("Cat" is French, "Chico" Spanish), and now we'd love to figure out how to see them. True to its title, "Cat" follows a feline's adventures in Paris, while "Chico & Rita" is a love story about a pianist and a beautiful singer who meet in pre-Castro Havana.Fassbender, Penis Joke Lovers Both Lose

Nothing would've made us happier than to see a repeat of George Clooney's Golden Globes speech, but alas, it's not meant to be at the Oscars. Maybe Academy voters are more conservative than their foreign press counterparts, because Michael Fassbender's brave and raw (read: full frontal) performance in "Shame" went unrewarded. Penis joke fans everywhere will have to hang their heads down low.There Were Only Two Good Songs This Year?

Those of us hoping for round two of the Elton John vs. Madonna standoff will have to keep waiting. Neither the Material Girl's Golden Globe-winning "W.E." single, "Masterpiece," Sir Elton's "Gnomeo & Juliet" song, "Hello Hello," OR Mary J. Blige's "The Help" song, "The Living Proof," earned nominations. Don't get us wrong, we loved Bret McKenzie's philosophical "Muppets" anthem "Man or Muppet" and the catchy Brazilian tune "Real in Rio" from "Rio," but really, Academy – only two songs? Did someone lose the names of the other nominees?SummitMeet Demián Bichir

We don't want to brag or anything, but we've been fans of Demián since he played Mary Louise Parker's studly third husband, a Mexican politician and druglord, on "Weeds." In Chris Weitz' father-son drama "A Better Life," Bichir portrays a Mexican immigrant desperate to provide his teenage son with all the opportunities the U.S. has to offer. The powerful role earned Bichir career-making reviews, applauding his "quietly potent," "pitch-perfect" performance.'Tintin' Makes No Motion

Despite its impressive pedigree, the motion-capture adaptation of the renowned European comic books didn't score any Oscar love. Even with two Academy Award-winning filmmakers at the helm, "Tintin" only earned one nomination: Best Score for John Williams (who unlike Spielberg, was also nominated for "War Horse").Spielberg Loses Directing 'War'

The Academy loves Steven Spielberg, but apparently he canceled himself out with his two December releases. While it's no surprise "Tintin" didn't generate any award buzz for the legendary filmmaker, it's surprising that his six-time-nominated drama "War Horse" failed to earn Spielberg his 7th Best Director nomination. Since he's the movie's producer, however, he still has a chance to take home a trophy.Oldman Quietly Sneaks In

Like his tightlipped British intelligence officer George Smiley in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Oldman quietly landed in the Best Actor's race. Understated performances are usually overshadowed by larger-than-life roles, so it's a pleasant surprise that Oldman finally (finally!) earned his first Academy Award nomination. We had to double-check that to be sure, since it seems so incomprehensible, but Oldman has never been nominated before this year. It's about time.'W.E.' Is Academy-Approved

Many found the pair of Globe Globe nominations (for Best Original Song and Best Original Score) and subsequent win (for the former) for the Madonna written-and-directed "W.E." to be the usual case of Hollywood Foreign Press celebrity brownnosing. But the widely panned film has also made the cut at the Oscars – and no, it's not in a musical category, but rather for Best Costume Design. Will Madge still show?Do Not Beware the 'Ides of March'

Well, OK, George Clooney's political drama did garner a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, but otherwise it didn't make quite the Oscar splash "Good Night, and Good Luck" did six years ago. But Clooney should be celebrating even if "Ides of March" didn't land more nods. Not only is he up for screenwriting, he's the frontrunner to win Best Actor.View Gallery »Theron Won't Three-Peat

Charlize Theron did a terrific job playing a terribly unlikable protagonist in "Young Adult," but her Golden Globe-nominated performance didn't get a chance at a happy ending come Oscar night. In fact, the Diablo Cody-penned, Jason Reitman-directed comedy must have been too snarky for the Academy, which shut out the movie altogether. If she's anything like her character Mavis, Theron will drown her sorrows in a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke and some fast food.Trent Reznor Does Not Score

Thanks to John Williams' double nominations for "Tintin" and "War Horse," several equally as deserving composers didn't get a nod this year, including "Harry Potter" scorer Alexandre Desplat (who also composed "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"), Dario Marianelli for "Jane Eyre" and Trent Reznor for "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." It must've been too much to expect Reznor, who won last year for "The Social Network," to repeat. Our response: a full-throated Karen O. yell of disapproval!Ryan Gosling 0-for-3

Rarely does an actor generate so much buzz for three such different and fantastic roles in a single year. Despite his photo-shopped abs and Method acting skills, Gosling still couldn't woo the Academy into honoring him with a nomination (we hoped for "Drive"). We're not sure why the Oscars haven't fallen for Gosling like the rest of us (well, except for his 2006 performance in "Half Nelson"), but he wuz robbed!Kristen Wiig Is Oscar-Nominated

Even though we're disappointed that "Bridesmaids" didn't end up on the Best Picture list, at least it got two high-profile, well-deserved nominations: one for Melissa McCarthy and one for Kristen Wiig and her writing partner Annie Mumolo (you know, the terrified flier sitting next to Wiig on the doomed flight to Las Vegas) for Best Original Screenplay. If she wins, Wiig should return to Manhattan and treat her "SNL" peeps to one amazing after-party.Ugh, And for the Last Time… No Harry Potter

We've saved our biggest disappointment for last: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" didn't score a Best Picture nomination (it did, however, score three technical nods). It isn't just because we're unabashed fans of the series or because it's the epic saga's final installment. It's because the movie is genuinely one of 2011's best, or should we say, magical, films, and it deserved to be recognized. As Entertainment Weekly said of the series finale, "the thrilling conclusion to a phenomenal cinematic story 10 years in the telling, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2' is proof that authentic movie excitement is its own form of magic." Amen.

Start ordering your cheese and wine and planning your Oscars parties, the nominees have been announced for the 2012 Academy Awards. Hot off the win from the Golden Globes, The Descendants scored five nominations in big categories but it was Hugo and The Artist that both roped in 10 nominations to lead the way. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close snagged a few nominations after being completely shut out in the Golden Globes.

Poor, Michael Fassbender. The Academy turned their backs on him after he gave us four excellent performances this year (Shame, X-Men First Class, Jayne Eyre, and A Dangerous Method) and may have had the best year as an actor. Also leading the parade of the snubbed were Leonardo DiCaprio for J. Edgar, The Adventures of Tintin, and Hollywood’s trendy movie mood setters Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for their score for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

More interesting nominations and snubs include:

• For Best Leading Actor: Demián Bichir in A Better Life• For Best Leading Actress: Rooney Mara in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo• For Best Supporting Actor: Nick Nolte in Warrior• For Best Supporting Actress: Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmainds• For Best Animated Feature: A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita• For Best Original Score: John Williams was nominated twice for War Horse and The Adventures of Tintin

• SNUB: Adventures of Tintin for Best Animated Feature• SNUB: Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) for Best Supporting Actress• SNUB: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) for Best Score• SNUB: Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of The Apes) for Best Leading Actor• SNUB: Michael Fassbender (Shame and many others) for Best Lead Actor• SNUB: Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin) for Best Lead Actress• SNUB: Leonardo DiCaprio (J.Edgar) For Best Lead Actor• SNUB: Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre) for Best Lead Actress

michael fassbender shame

The Oscars also righted some wrongs from the Golden Globes including giving Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life) a Directing nomination over George Clooney (Ides of March), leaving Cars 2 off of the nominations, leaving Madonna and her original song for W.E. as well as the film’s original score off the nominations, getting “Man or Muppet” on the ballot and also nominating Gary Oldman for Best Lead Actor.

Tune into ABC on Sunday, February 27, 7pm EST to find out who takes home the Academy Awards. Below is a complete list of the nominees:

Best Picture• The Artist• The Descendants• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close• The Help• Hugo• Midnight in Paris• Moneyball• The Tree of Life• War Horse

Best Sound Mixing• Hugo• Moneyball• Transformers: Dark of the Moon• War Horse• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Best Visual Effects• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2• Hugo• Real Steel• Rise of the Planet of the Apes• Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Are you surprised by any of the picks? Think something else should have made it? Did we miss a snub? Let us know your Oscar snubs and picks below and tell us what was your Best Picture of the year and why, below.

HollywoodNews.com: The Oscar nominations are in, and there are lots of movies and actors who got left out. Steve McQueen’s “Shame” was totally snubbed, along with actors Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan. Too much sex? The Academy rejected full frontal nudity, that’s for sure. A fascinating film, but depressing–and now set to become a video hit only. Clint Eastwood’s “J Edgar” never caught on at the box office, and now the actors–Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer–are out in the cold as well. “J Edgar” was very well made, but the point of the story was lost–it was not a love story that people wanted to see, but the saga of Hoover’s abuse of power.

Also gone are “Drive”–with Albert Brooks and Ryan Gosling’s terrific work, plus Jason Reitman’s “Young Adult”–simply released at the wrong time. It should have gone to Sundance and worked the festivals. Too edgy for Christmas. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” produced only love for Rooney Mara. And the big shock–that the Academy didn’t want Steven Spielberg’s “Tintin” at all, and chose obscure animated films instead. Wow. Plus, only two nominations for Best Song–that’s going to be a short segment–the songs from “The Help” and “Gnomeo and Juliet” didn’t register at all.

Some congrats–in documentaries to Joe Berlinger’s “Paradise Lost 3″ and to Wim Wender’s “Pina.” And in costumes, it’s nice that “Anonymous” got a nod. Even if the movie was loony, it looked great.

Awards season 2011-12: All the major nominees and winners, including Oscars nominations

The 2011 awards season is hotting up. In the run-up to the Oscars, track the key nominees and winners here; can you predict who will triumph this year?• Get the data

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OscarsThe 2011 film awards season is underway, in the run-up to the Oscars next February. Photograph: Gary Hershorn/REUTERS

The Academy Awards nominations have been announced, and we're one step closer to finding out who will scoop the Oscars this awards season.

As expected, Jean Dujardin (The Artist) and George Clooney (The Descendants), who both won Golden Globes last week, head the best actor nominations.

Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) and Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn), who also shared the glory at the Golden Globes, are nominated in the best actress category.

Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton, who had ranked highly on our spreadsheet of nominations, have been overlooked by the Academy.

The Descendants and The Artist lead the race for best film Oscar. The latter has garnered the most nominations this awards season according to our data, with eight for best film and seven for director Michel Hazanavicius.

Hazanavicius took the London Critics' Circle prize for best director last week, but Martin Scorsese won the Golden Globe last week for Hugo. Could an animated film scoop one of the top prizes on Oscar night?

This year we're tracking all the major nominees and winners in the run-up to the Oscars on 26 February (just like we did in 2009 and 2010), in categories including best actor and actress, director, film and screenplay.

Those categories that have been left out - like cinematographer, short film and editing - have been ignored because they aren't presented in sufficient award ceremonies to warrant a comparison.

Download the spreadsheet for the full list of nominees and winners so far.

The Oscar nominations are in, and there are lots of movies and actors who got left out. Steve McQueen’s “Shame” was totally snubbed, along with actors Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan. Too much sex? The Academy rejected full frontal nudity, that’s for sure. A fascinating film, but depressing–and now set to become a video hit only. Clint Eastwood’s “J Edgar” never caught on at the box office, and now the actors–Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer–are out in the cold as well. “J Edgar” was very well made, but the point of the story was lost–it was not a love story that people wanted to see, but the saga of Hoover’s abuse of power.

Also gone are “Drive”–with Albert Brooks and Ryan Gosling’s terrific work, plus Jason Reitman’s “Young Adult”–simply released at the wrong time. It should have gone to Sundance and worked the festivals. Too edgy for Christmas. “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” produced only love for Rooney Mara. And the big shock–that the Academy didn’t want Steven Spielberg’s “Tintin” at all, and chose obscure animated films instead. Wow. Plus, only two nominations for Best Song–that’s going to be a short segment–the songs from “The Help” and “Gnomeo and Juliet” didn’t register at all.

Some congrats–in documentaries to Joe Berlinger’s “Paradise Lost 3″ and to Wim Wender’s “Pina.” And in costumes, it’s nice that “Anonymous” got a nod. Even if the movie was loony, it looked great.

Veteran movie stars Brad Pitt and George Clooney made the cut. So did funny girl Melissa McCarthy, along with fresher faces like Rooney Mara and Jean Dujardin. But, as usual, not everyone was recognized by the Academy Awards when the nominations were announced Tuesday morning.

In fact, some leading men who seemed a shoo-in for a gold statue were snubbed from the Best Actor category: Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling and Leonardo DiCaprio.

PHOTOS: Awards Season '12: Stars Honor the Best in Show

Although the role earned him a Golden Globe Awards nomination, Fassbender's provocative role as a sex addict for Shame did not secure him a spot on the list. Also left out: Gosling, who was a double-nominee at the Globes for his roles in Crazy, Stupid, Love and The Ides of March (for which Clooney is nominated for Adapted Screenplay).

No stranger to snubs, DiCaprio didn't receive recognition for his work in the J. Edgar biopic, although he might get a little redemption at Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards.

With Clooney (The Descendants), Pitt (Moneyball), Demián Bichir (A Better Life), Jean Dujardin (The Artist) and Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) preparing to face off on Feb. 26 for the 84th Annual Academy Awards, airing live from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre on ABC at 7 p.m., tell us: Which leading man should have gotten an Oscar nod?

It’s a veritable Christmas morning for Hollywood today, as at 5 AM, a small, exclusive lucky group of folks were awoken to telephone calls congratulating them on their Oscar nominations. Ah yes, the Academy Awards, America’s most cherished ass kissing festival, where celebrities get showered with gifts, attention, fine foods and good wine, while we sit in our dimly lit offices shoveling the same mixed salad we’ve been eating every day for years into our mouths despite the fact that somehow we seem to be gaining weight. (Too personal, I digress. Snap out of it! — Cher)

Anyway, today is that day of initial glee so many lucky folks in Hollywood will awake to. And then, of course, you have those that get famously snubbed. Ignored. Overlooked. Forgotten. No giftbag for you. Charlize Theron in Young Adult?

Ryan Gosling???? You better Drive your ass out of here cause you’ve been

The very handsome writer and director of The Help, Tate Taylor? Hate to be the one to break the news, but you’re getting Tatey Taylor Snubbed Bye:

Albert Brooks already knows what I’m going to say to him, doesn’t he?

Hol up… where the HELL is Uggie on this list???

Tin Tin? For God’s Sake… don’t tell me they snubbed Tin Tin.

Yes, the Academy takes no prisoners this year, as many of our favorite performances (NOT EVEN TIN TIN?!) were left on the cutting room floor. But no snub matches the length and girth of the following one, because our beloved Michael Fassbender was left out of the Best Actor running for his penis’ star performance in Shame, aka Classy Art House Mom Porn.

Hey Academy, do you think it’s easy showing off your shvanz for the cameras for hours on end? It isn’t. Trust me. I would know. (I wouldn’t.) Fassbender is one of the most exciting and excitable actors working today. Plus, he has legs like former American president Abraham Lincoln. Doesn’t that count for anything these days?

I can’t even lie… I haven’t seen Shame yet. The reason being I’m pretty sure it’s still illegal to pleasure oneself at the Arclight Cinemas on Sunset. (Wait, it’s legal now? BRB.) But you can believe that once Shame is out on DVD, I will be “live-streaming” it (don’t even know what this innuendo means but it stays) into my home, riiiight after I’m done watching this for the 10,000th time.

Looking over the list of Oscar Nominees, which are posted below, there are some great movies nominated — happy to see The Artist get some love, as well as the wonderful women in The Help, and Melissa McCarthy (!!!) and the writers of Bridesmaids – but there are also some real “confusers.” Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, aka Precocious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire, looks HORRENDY, and as much as I am deeply in love with my fellow cripple Brad Pitt, The Tree Of Life was on Norbit Sequel levels for me.

In other words, the Oscars are the same as they are every year: Snobby, elite, old, and devoid of any Fassbender penis. Shame, indeed. On YOU, Academy Members. “For I have seen the nipple on your soul!” — Elaine Benes.

Below, a near complete list of the Oscar Nominees (let’s face it, the ones we care about).

“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

the adventures of tintin When last year’s nominations were announced, there were very few surprises. The general consensus was that things went as expected. This year, however, the Academy spiced things up with a bunch of snubs and surprises.

SNUBS

michael fassbender shame

Michael Fassbender (Shame), Leonardo DiCaprio (J Edgar), and Ryan Gosling (Drive and The Ides of March) are all missing from the Best Actor category. I did not expect all three to make the cut, but I did expect at least one of them to get a nod. It seems the Academy decided to snub the 30-somethings in favor of the old guys this year.

The Adventures of Tintin didn’t land a Best Animated Feature nomination. This just goes to show how different the Oscars are from the Golden Globes. Just nine days after Steven Spielberg’s animated film beat out its competitors at the Globes, it only manages to nab a Best Original Score nomination from the Academy.

Albert Brooks (Drive) is absent from the Best Supporting Actor race. I’m actually quite happy with the five nominees in this category, but Brooks is a well-respected actor who has a heavy force earlier on this awards season. That kind of formula often equates to an Oscar nod, but it looks like his momentum died out too early.

One of the strangest snubs is in the Original Song category. For some reason, the members of the Academy only felt two songs from the entire year were worth nominating. Don’t get me wrong, I’m enormously happy that Bret McKenzie is getting some love from his work on The Muppets, but historically, there have never been less than three nominated songs, and prior to 1946 there were often ten. Was 2011 such an awful year for music in the movies? I doubt it. The list of songs that could have been added to the mix is a long one, including any one of the five that were nominated at the Golden Globes, or even a handful of other songs from The Muppets.

Nothing at all for 50/50. Nobody could have been expecting much, but there are many who thought that a Best Original Screenplay nod was coming.

Tilda Swinton was left off the ballot for her performance in We Need to Talk About Kevin. It would have been much more shocking if Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) or Viola Davis (The Help) had been snubbed, but ripples of outrage at Swinton’s absence have emerged and are mostly directed at the inclusion of Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) in her place. Mara’s presence shouldn’t be such a surprise, however, considering her performance in Fincher’s blockbuster has been universally praised, and she’s been nominated for several other awards, including the Golden Globe.

SURPRISES

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Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and Demián Bichir (A Better Life) fill in the Best Actor slots. A lot of people will be praising the cinematic gods for the fact that Oldman, who has long been considered one of the most underrated actors around, has finally snagged his first Oscar nomination. He garnered some significant buzz early on, but much of that faded until last week’s BAFTA nominations were announced. It’s not a huge surprise, but it is a pleasant one. Bichir’s presence in the category has some folks scratching their heads, not because of his performance, but because they have no idea who he is. Bichir is well-known actor in Mexico, but has only recently received much exposure elsewhere, largely due to his role on TV’s Weeds. He has shown up from time to time in other awards this year (he’s nominated for a SAG award and Independent Spirit Award), so his nomination isn’t entirely out of the blue. But it is a surprise, considering other actors, such as the aforementioned Fassbender and DiCaprio, had much more buzz surrounding them.

Bridesmaids gets some love. Not only did Melissa McCarthy nab a Best Supporting Actor nod, which isn’t a surprise so much as a relief, but Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo have found themselves matched up against the likes of Woody Allen and Michel Hazanavicius in the Best Original Screenplay competition.

Hugo gets eleven nominations–more than any other film this year. It looks like Scorsese’s family flick is steadily gaining momentum as the Oscars near. Each individual nomination isn’t surprising, but the grand total is somewhat staggering. The general expectation was that The Artist would lead the nominations. Michel Hazanavicius’ silent film is still the Best Picture front runner, but Hugo is making a strong play for the big prize through the sheer number of nominations, and due to the fact that Martin Scorsese has been a long-time Oscar darling, even if it took the Academy so long to finally give him a directing trophy.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close gets a Best Picture nod. All right, with ten potential Best Picture slots, it’s hard to say that anything is really a surprise, but this movie hasn’t had a particularly strong showing this awards season, and its critical reception has been hit-and-miss at best. It currently sits at 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, which isn’t the ultimate authority on Oscar-worthy film making, but certainly indicates that the movie isn’t winning over its audiences.

Speaking of the Best Picture category, nine out of a possible ten films made the cut. What movie do you think should have filled in that gap? Who else do you think was snubbed? Sound off in the comments below.

The 84th Academy Awards ceremony airs on Sunday, February 26th. You can see the full list of nominations here.

NOMINATIONS for the 2012 Oscars have been unveiled - and have this year added some big surprises.

But predictably - and perhaps with justification in some instances - the sci-fi and fantasy films were either excluded or relegated to the sound and visual categories.

In a recent poll I asked Geek Files readers which of the nine films under consideration for a visual effects awards should make it to the final five.

Your top choice was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, followed by Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and tied in fourth place Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Captain America: The First Avenger and X-Men: First Class, and then Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Hugo and Real Steel.

The Academy chose to put forward Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Hugo, Real Steel, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Of course, I'm disappointed that the undoubted finesse and character focus of the X-Men revamp didn't get a mention somewhere but not entirely surprised, as superhero films are usually shunned; even The Dark Knight was nominated only for sound editing and Heath Ledger's supporting actor performance, though it did win both.

The final Potter film also earned nods in make-up and art direction while Michael Bay's third Transformers action film was also acknowledged in the sound mixing and sound editing categories.

Spielberg's computer-animated, motion-capture film The Adventures of Tintin earned just a nomination for original score.

Martin Scorsese's Hugo - his first animated feature and his first film in 3D - leads the way this year with 11 nominations, one more than the hotly-tipped, highly-acclaimed The Artist with 10.

The other films in the best picture list are The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life and War Horse.

Spielberg failed to earn a nod for War Horse in the director category, which instead picked Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), Alexander Payne (The Descendants), Martin Scorsese (Hugo), Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) and Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life) as the contenders.

The actors vying for the famous trophy are Demian Bichir (A Better Life), George Clooney (The Descendants), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and Brad Pitt (Moneyball). It was a welcome acknowledgement for Oldman, who has at last earned his first Oscar nomination, but a snub for Michael Fassbender who was expected to be up for his role as a sex addict in Shame.

Nominated for best actress are Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs), Viola Davis (The Help), Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) and Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn). No sign of Tilda Swinton, who was expected to earn a nod for We Need To Talk About Kevin.

The nominations for the 84th Academy Awards were announced in Beverly Hills by actress Jennifer Lawrence and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Tom Sherak.

The Lesson for This Year's Oscar Nominees? Don't Be an R-rated Film!Posted: 01/24/2012 4:24 pm

For a list of the complete nominations, go HERE. As always, click on the movies with links for the original theatrical review. I write a lot about the inexplicable trend of how the various year-end awards groups only consider 'appropriate' movies to be considered awards-material. There is and always has been a certain disdain for populist entertainment, a trend that's only gotten worse as the independent film movement exploded in the early 1990s and the year-end Oscar bait-calender got more jam-packed over the last five weeks of the year. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II may have received almost unanimously rave reviews (96% positive on Rotten Tomatoes), but it doesn't count because it was a big-budget fantasy drama that is considered 'popular' entertainment. Bridesmaids may have been one of the most successful R-rated comedies of recent years, a well-reviewed (90% on Rotten Tomatoes) comedy that may have been a game-changer in terms of how mass-market female-driven entertainments are viewed in terms of their commercial potential. But no, it's not a character-driven dramedy that's one of the best films of the year, it's just that 'women s$#! in a sink' movie, so it's not worthy. But a drama with Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock that's gasp... about 9/11?! That's EXACTLY the kind of film that is supposed to be among the year's best, right? And so it is that Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, a film with a 48% positive ranking on Rotten Tomatoes and a 46% score on Metacritic is now considered by the Academy to be one of the nine best films of the year.

Other than that insane nomination, today's Oscar nominations were a generally inoffensive bunch (I kinda hate Midnight In Paris, but it's a mid-summer release that plenty of people absolutely love). The most surprising and egregious omissions were in the Original Screenplay category, where 50/50, Young Adult, and Win/Win didn't make the cut, losing out to surprise (and worthy) contenders Margin Call and A Separation. I would have tossed Woody Allen's Midnight In Paris script and The Artist, but that was never going to happen (alas, Allen is likely going to win). The much-discussed voting system for Best Picture, which was intended to yield between five and ten Best Picture nominees (and, in my opinion, unofficially weed out the more mainstream contenders), had an interesting and frankly not terrible effect. Since there was so much emphasis on a voter's absolute favorite film of the year, what we ended up with are nine films that can indeed be looked at as films the respective voters are passionate about. A film like Tree of Life generally brought about a love/hate it attitude, but those that loved it were likely to consider it among their very favorites of the year, so it made the cut. Moneyball is arguably a slight surprise, but again, there was a passionate 'this is the best film of the year' following. Having a small niche in the Academy that loved it was more useful this year than merely being liked by everyone. Which I guess explains the nomination for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, but geez (I guess I have to see it now...). At least my wild speculation last November may have been on the mark.

Unless you're Sasha Stone of Awards Daily, you probably didn't *love* The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, so it (rightfully) ended up honored for its one excellent element, Rooney Mara's star turn. The Best Actress category is one of several where you could almost an entire alternate category under 'damn-well should have been nominated' (Charlize Theron, Kristen Wiig, Tilda Swinton, Kristen Dunst, and Elizabeth Olsen). Happy semi-surprises popped up in the Best Actor category, with Demian Bichir scoring for his terrific lead performance in A Better Life and Gary Oldman scoring his first (!) Oscar nomination for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. As a result, Michael Fassbender lost out on what seemed a surefire nod for his star turn in Shame. Less expected but still disappointing was Michael Shannon's failure to get a nod, in fact the entire shut-out of Take Shelter. Also annoying but expected was the nomination for Jessica Chastain (that's good) for The Help (again... Take friggin Shelter!!), meaning that The Help scored three acting noms (along with Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer) along with its Best Picture nomination (for the record, I like the movie and am glad that at least one critically-acclaimed populist entertainment made the cut). In good news semi-surprises, Nick Nolte overcame Warrior's dreadful box office to score a much-deserved Best Supporting Actor nomination. I hope he wins.

In somewhat refreshing news, Clint Eastwood's lukewarm J. Edgar was completely shut-out, due to the fact that no one really liked it (The Iron Lady, which is even worse, should have suffered the same fate). In a somewhat surprising turn, two animated films that no one has ever heard of, A Cat In Paris and Chico and Rita, took the two Best Animated Film slots that were supposed to be reserved for Pixar's Cars 2 and Steven Spielberg's motion-capture adventure The Adventures of Tintin. I didn't like either film, but the omission of the popular Tintin again shows the Academy's issues with motion-capture both as a tool for animation and a form of acting (it's both, people...). In other words, Andy Serkis's performance in Rise of the Planet of the Apes never had a shot. Still, War Horse's deserved Best Picture nomination hopefully made up for Tintin's theoretical slight. On the plus side, Kung Fu Panda 2 and Puss in Boots snuck in alongside presumptive favorite Rango. Weirdly, the original song category had only two nominations. "Real In Rio" (from Rio) and the now-presumptive favorite "Man or Muppet" (from The Muppets). Ironically, in a year filled with films centered around nostalgia, the two that viewed nostalgia the most critically, The Muppets and Young Adult, were both mostly shut-out (and the most unchallenging of the bunch, The Artist, is probably going to win).

There were five nominees for Best Visual Effects, and I was heartened to see the terrific special effects for Transformers: Dark of the Moon sneak in despite the general (and somewhat justified) critical distaste for the franchise. Somewhat surprising was the inclusion of Real Steel, with its surprisingly low-key robot-boxing effects work. Along with presumptive favorite Rise of the Planet of the Apes, two of the five nominees were films that cost under $100 million. The other two were Hugo (which led all films with 11 nominations, including Best Picture, arguably all deserved) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II (the latter of which only scored the usual three technical nods, along with Best Make-Up and Best Art Direction).

Overall, the biggest disappointment was the lack of much outside-the-box thinking. There was no Alan Rickman Best Supporting Actor nomination, no Kristen Wiig Best Actress nomination, no love for art-house darlings like Take Shelter or Martha Marcy May Marlene, a complete shut-out for Young Adult, and no real momentum for critically-acclaimed populist entertainment like the aforementioned Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II or Bridesmaids. With as much respect as possible for Melissa McCarthy (who did her job and got laughs as the scene-stealing clown), her nomination as the biggest representation of the film is a sign that it was mostly written off as the 'girls s$#! in a sink' movie. A film filled with realistic and three-dimensional female characters received its only major acting nomination for its most over-the-top and least realistic character. I'm not trying to pick on McCarthy, I'm happy she'll be getting tons more work off of the success of the film, so if you want to see her ace a more three-dimensional role, track down The Nines. Or just check out the early seasons of Gilmore Girls.

And while I have no love for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, it's exclusion along with Bridesmaids and Young Adult from the Best Picture category sends a clear 'only one token girl movie allowed' message. You're going to read a lot of essays over the next week about how the Academy embraced a bunch of uplifting 'feel-good' movies over darker fare. And frankly that's bunk, based on the misconception that The Help and War Horse are actually feel-good movies, rather than the pessimistic downers that they are (but then, there are people who actually think Precious has a happy ending too...). What is clear is that the Academy basically ignored R-rated movies, as The Descendants was the only R-rated Best Picture nominee this year. And if you look at those that theoretically could have made the cut (Young Adult, Bridesmaids, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Margin Call, Take Shelter, The Ides of March, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II, etc) nearly every single one of them was R-rated.

In a year when the once-dreaded MPAA rating made somewhat of a comeback, it is disheartening to see that 'adult films' pretty much got shut out not just in the Best Picture category but in many of the major categories as well. Scrolling down the big six categories, only Albert Noobs (2 acting nods), Beginners (1 acting nod for Christopher Plummer), Margin Call (1 screenplay nod), The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (1 acting nomination), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1 acting and 1 screenplay nod), Bridesmaids (1 acting and 1 screenplay nod), and The Descendants (4 nominations) were R-rated films, with a total of 13 out of a possible 44 nomination slots. It would seem that the lesson this year is that if you want a shot at Oscar glory, make sure your film is rated PG-13 or PG... Anyway, for my own personal year-in-review lists, go here. As always, share your thoughts below. What was the happiest surprise nod, and the most depressing omission?

Patton Oswalt Reacts To To The Academy Award Nominationsdiscussion5 Comments published: 2012-01-24 15:04:06 Author: Eric EisenbergOn the day that the Oscars are announced, the only word more popular than "nominee" is "snub." Every year there are a group of filmmakers and actors who everyone thinks should have been nominated for their work in the previous year, but is passed over by The Academy. And this year is no different. Between Albert Brooks' work in Drive, Michael Fassbender's performance in Shame, Andy Serkis' turn in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Tilda Swinton's show in We Need To Talk About Kevin, the national conversation has been as much about who didn't get nominated as much as it has been about who has. So Patton Oswalt, who earned a bit of buzz himself thanks to his performance in Young Adult, has decided to have some fun with it.

Following the announcement of the Oscar nominees, Oswalt took to his Twitter account (if you're not already following him you really should be) to craft a scene featuring all of the snubbed artists getting together at a bar in Los Angeles called The Drawing Room. It's a short scene, but a hilarious one that ends, of course, at Legoland. (I've reordered the Tweets so that you can read it from top to bottom)

I will admit that I am disappointed with the Academy's choices this year (only one for Drive and zero for 50/50? Really?), but we should all put it in perspective. While we might like the idea of our favorite actors and filmmakers winning awards for their great work, the truth is that the awards are really just for show. You should just be happy that Hollywood is still making movies that you love and not worry about a little gold statue.

This year's Golden Globes lineup for Best Actor in a Drama was a real treat, with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Fassbender all in the running. But after Tuesday's Academy Award nominations announcement, only two out of the five actors will be up for a golden statue at the 2012 Oscars.

Clooney was nominated for his role in "The Descendants" and Pitt picked up a nomination for "Moneyball," joining Demian Bichir, ("A Better Life"), Jean Dujardin ("The Artist") and Gary Oldman ("Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy").

Many fans rooting for a Golden Globes redo were sorely disappointed Tuesday after learning DiCaprio, Gosling and Fassbender will not be up for an Oscar on Feb. 26.

In order to help ease the pain, check out some of our favorite photos of DiCaprio, Gosling and Fassbender:

From big names left off the list—Spielberg, DiCaprio—to upset contenders like Bridesmaids’ Melissa McCarthy, Jacob Bernstein runs down the most unexpected news from the nominations.

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The Oscars are a yearly event in which Hollywood marries itself, and this time around the two biggest recipients of Academy love are Hugo (with 11 nominations) and The Artist (with 10). This shouldn’t be such a surprise: both are movies about how great the movies are, and at least one of them actually is.

Of course, as is usually the case with the Academy, most of the films that have been nominated are bigger with critics than moviegoers. Among the nine contenders for Best Picture, only one (The Help) crossed the $100 million mark at the box office.

Several of the others were polarizing in the extreme.

Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life tells the story of a family tragedy, and brings in all sorts of deep ontological themes (as well as a curious sequence involving a dying dinosaur). It alienated and inspired its way to a Best Picture nomination, as well as earning nods for its director and cinematographer. Heidegger, at least, would be proud.

The Descendants (which scored six nominations) was a surer thing, but it, too, has been divisive.

And then there’s Moneyball. Given the reviews and its quality (we’re just going to dispense with objectivity and admit that we thought it was superb), it’s not exactly a surprise that the film was nominated for Best Picture. Nevertheless, it was by no means a lock. For one thing, it came out in September and is no longer in theaters. For another, it’s almost too smart for its own good—a big, ambitious baseball pic in which the home team (the Oakland Athletics) doesn’t win in the end. Not exactly cathartic.

So few would have expected it to get six nominations, as it did.

But before we get to the meat of this piece, we’re going to give a shout to an actress whose absence in the Supporting category was entirely expected, but disappointing nevertheless: Demi Moore in Margin Call.

“WTF?” you’re probably thinking. DE-MI Moore?

To which we can only say: you should have seen it. In the film she plays a ruthless corporate executive at a company that resembles Lehman Brothers. And she’s astonishingly good. Unfortunately, the film had a tiny budget and little money for an Oscar campaign, and Moore was going through a divorce at the time of its release, which made promoting it a nightmare. Which is too bad. It is the best thing she has ever done. (Thankfully, it got a screenplay nomination.) Someone should at least send her a box of chocolates.

Without further ado, the biggest snubs and surprises …

1. SURPRISE: Gary Oldman

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy scored terrific reviews when it was released in December, but the movie and its stellar leading man, Gary Oldman, seemed to be nearly forgotten in the run-up to the Oscars. He didn’t get a Golden Globe nomination or earn a nod from the Screen Actors Guild, many of whose members nominate for the Academy as well.

2. SNUB: Leonardo DiCaprio

Leo scored both a Golden Globe nomination and a SAG nod for the title role in J. Edgar, Clint Eastwood’s biopic of the late FBI honcho, but critics savaged the film. Clearly, it wasn’t just them rooting against it. Though the Academy loves Eastwood and has nominated DiCaprio four times in the past (most recently for 2006’s Blood Diamond), it just doesn’t love this one.

Gallery: See the Nominees

Oscar nominations

3. SURPRISE: Rooney Mara

Though the American adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has been an undeniable critical success, it stalled as it came out of the gate, not quite delivering at the box office in initial weeks and—because of its late release—missing the boat with a number of pre-Oscar awards shows. Moreover, the unbelievable violence and tough sexual imagery did not make a natural fit with the Academy, a relatively old voting bloc. Still, members have shown over and over again that they like to give career awards in the Best Actor category and prefer ingénues for Best Actress. So while it’s a surprise that Mara got nominated, it’s by no means worthy of an exclamation point.

4. SNUB: Tilda Swinton

She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress back in 2007 (for Michael Clayton) and is beloved by virtually everyone in Hollywood—despite her Grace Jones–esque penchant for kooky designer clothes. No wonder she managed to score Golden Globe and SAG nods for her role in We Need to Talk About Kevin, playing a frigid mother whose son massacres his school. It would seem to be the kind of tough, transformative role the Academy loves, but there’s also a sense that the movie itself was a little pretentious and overdirected. Also, when a movie is that tough, not everyone sees it. Add in the Rooney Mara factor and it’s understandable (though disappointing) that Tilda got shut out.

5. SURPRISE: Melissa McCarthy

Her scene-stealing performance in Bridesmaids captured the hearts of moviegoers (to the tune of $180 million), but Melissa McCarthy did not exactly seem to have it made with the members of the Academy. Time and again, this group of voters has shown that they don’t place much of a premium on comedies, particularly the kind in which women are vomiting all over the screen. So the fact that she sneaked in there is pretty surprising.

6. SNUB: Albert Brooks

As we’ve already said, the Academy loves to give a little gold man to an older gent who dramatically reinvents himself onscreen, and it tends to like it even better if he’s a bloke who usually played likable guys and then transforms himself into a monster. Which is part of why Albert Brooks was expected by so many people to score a nod for his role as a gangster in Drive, the neo-noir about a race-car driver (Ryan Gosling) who gets caught up in a criminal enterprise.

In fact, many thought it was a two-man race between him and Christopher Plummer, whose role as a gay septuagenarian in Beginners is another “transformative” role. (Plus, the Academy loves a straight guy who goes gay.)

Still, Brooks's failure to capture a SAG-award nomination was probably an indication the campaign wasn’t going well. And without any other major nominations for the film, it’s safe to say the older voters in the Academy just didn’t quite get the film.

Color us devastated.

7. SURPRISE: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

This adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s bestselling novel would seem to have it made with members of the Academy. It’s a post-9/11 tearjerker featuring terrific performances by Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. Unfortunately, the film has also been criticized as being overdirected (by Stephen Daldry), and Thomas Horn’s performance as the boy at the center of the story is not exactly what you would call “relatable.” First, it got savaged by critics. Then it failed to pick up steam in the pre-Oscar derby. So its sneaking in there is a testament to producer Scott Rudin, and perhaps its subject matter, which is just the sort the Academy loves to reward.

8. SNUB: Steven Spielberg

Spielberg almost always cleans up come Oscar time, so his failure to earn a slot among the directors will no doubt raise a certain number of eyebrows. Still, this was actually a fairly crowded category (David Fincher also got snubbed), and War Horse’s nom for Best Picture (nine films were nominated in that category, compared with five people for director) is a way for the Academy to acknowledge his work without having to go over the moon for him for two movies of his (the other was The Adventures of Tintin) that it didn’t quite love.

With Tintin, it may not solely be a question of quality: apparently, the animators are somewhat conservative, and don't get behind movies that blend live action with animation. Nevertheless, The Adventures of Tintin ... directed by Steven Spielberg ... in a year with virtually no competition for animated films? Snubbed? Beaten out of a nomination by little-heard-of movies like A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita? Wow.

9. SURPRISE: Demián Bichir

A Better Life was a well-reviewed but little-seen movie that came out back in June, starring a little-known actor named Demián Bichir. Thankfully, its subject matter—a Mexican immigrant fighting to keep his son away from gang life—is the sort of fare the Academy loves.

10. SNUB: Michael Fassbender

Fassbender won plaudits for his frank portrayal of a sex addict in Steve McQueen’s Shame. He even took all his clothes off. A slew of awards buzz followed, but not a nomination, a sign that the academy may have felt both a little uneasy and manipulated by the movie’s subject matter.

11. SNUB: Young Adult

A terrific performance from Charlize Theron. A hilarious script from Diablo Cody. Reviews that were practically over the moon. But Young Adult, the story of a single woman in her late 30s who goes back to her hometown with the intention of stealing her high-school boyfriend from his wife, is also dark, dark, dark, and uncomfortable to watch in much the way that 2010's Greenberg was. Moreover, the Academy's older voting bloc is never all that generous to young filmmakers, particularly ones who are extremely confident of their own abilities. In 2009, director Jason Reitman made a comment about how "good" his movie Up in the Air was while working the Oscar circuit, and that was more or less the end of its chances on the big night. So the Academy may still be holding it against him. Plus, Young Adult is a comedy, and we all know how the Academy feels about comedies.

It's been a good year for Brad Pitt. In "Moneyball," he takes a lesson from his good buddy (and fellow nominee) George Clooney and puts his natural sense of ease into the cool façade of a professional while anxiety eats away beneath the mask. But Pitt delivered not one but two of his best -- perhaps the best -- performances of his career this year, and in the balance sheet of the Academy voters, the likable "Moneyball" was privileged over his more volatile, simmering, unsettled turn as a frustrated father in "Tree of Life," a performance bristling with unconditional love, unfocused anger and life lessons that verge bullying.

Give credit to the Academy for spotlighting Damien Bichir's turn as another father, this one an illegal alien sacrificing all to give his son "A Better Life." His inclusion likely squeezed out Academy favorite Leonardo DiCaprio for "J. Edgar," but also left out was Michael Fassbender's intense portrait of an emotionally disconnected sex addict in "Shame" and Michael Shannon's anxious exploration of a husband and father struggling to keep schizophrenia -- and the harrowing nightmares it brings -- at bay in "Take Shelter." And let's give a shout-out to Brendan Gleason's hilarious work in "The Guard," admittedly a long shot in this category but one of the sharpest and funniest creations of the year nonetheless.

Who got robbed? Tell us what you think about this year's nominations on Facebook

Newsweek has a lovely roundtable with non-nominees Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton. Also Viola Davis, Christopher Plummer and George Clooney. It’s a good time to remember what the Oscars really are. I feel like I need to remind myself of this, and you dear readers too. Every once in a while it really matters — the talent was recognized. But mostly it’s about the balance of power in Hollywood – careers are made on the statues. The greatest films and performances mostly have gone unrecognized because, to a degree, we need more time to figure out whether it was just a passionate love affair or a lasting one. That isn’t something that can be decided. Nobody knows anything was our saying here many years ago before it became the trick is not minding and both sayings remain true. It is not a bad thing for Charlize that she wasn’t Oscar-nominated, nor was it bad that Fassbender or Swinton weren’t. Their performances have been recorded and appreciated as two of the year’s best. But imagine what an Oscar nomination can do, for instance, for some of the unexpected nominees. It can be a good thing, career-wise, but remember — never forget, in fact — that it’s a game. Some play it better than others. Some lose better than others. At any rate, here’s one.

This morning, Jennifer Lawrence and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the 84th Academy Awards. The winners will be announced during the televised ceremony on February 26, 2012. Let’s get right into the nominations:

Snubs:BridesmaidsThe Girl with the Dragon TattooThe Ides of March50/50ShameHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II

The Artist and The Descendants may stack up on top alphabetically, but they’re neatly placed in this two-horse race with the B&W, silent era drama in the easy lead. An upset is possible, I suppose, but a Descendants win would be more upsetting since its one of the weakest in Payne’s career. Extremely Loud & Yada Yada comes as a huge surprise though. Chock it up to a well-timed release and Oscar campaign, because the weepy film has been otherwise absent from awards buzz. Sorsese’s Hugo lead the nods with 11 nominations, many of them technical. Shocked to see Bridesmaids left off, which would have rounded out the list with a clean 10 candidates. The others were longshots, though maybe Harry Potter deserved a courtesy nod.

Michael HazanaviciusBest DirectorMichel Hazanavicius, The ArtistAlexdander Payne, The DescendantsMartin Scorsese, HugoWoody Allen, Midnight in ParisTerrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Snubs:David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon TattooSteven Spielberg, War HorseBennett Miller, MoneyballTate Taylor, The Help

It’s Hazanavicius versus Scorsese this year, with the edge to the charming Frenchman who made his nostalgia movie in black and white. However, in a year of looking fondly backwards, who wouldn’t love to see Woody Allen awarded, and agree to take the stage? Sigh. Probably not. By the way, it’s pronounced “HAH-zah-nah-vi-shish.” Just in case you wanted to sound smart at your Oscar party. Fincher was on the Director’s Guild list, and left out of the Oscar five. Spielberg’s two movies couldn’t earn him one nomination. Miller and Taylor both made movies in “Best Picture.”

For Shame, leaving Fassbender out of the category completely. Bichir is a wonderful addition and Oldman is good, but Fassbender is the breakout actor of 2011 and his raw, naked performance is his best. DiCaprio is also a tough blow, but the rest of that movie did him in. Clooney and Dujardin will duke it out, or try to out-charm each other. Dujardin wins.

Michelle Williams as Marilyn MonroeBest Actress in a Leading RoleGlenn Close, Albert NobbsViola Davis, The HelpRooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon TattooMeryl Streep, The Iron LadyMichelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

The Academy anointed an emerging young actress, as usual, in Mara, but that means Swinton’s haunting performance went sadly overlooked. They didn’t know what to do with “dramedy” performances like Foster’s fastidious mother, Theron’s bitchy writer, or Wiig’s awkward baker. Wiig gets a nomination for writing, but not performing it perfectly? I’m predicting Williams here, due to a split vote between Close and Streep.

Snubs:Albert Brooks, DriveGeorge Clooney, The Ides of MarchViggo Mortensen, A Dangerous MethodAndy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Plummer has this locked up, but most were shocked to see Brooks absent when critics loved him. Clooney’s Ides of March performance is better than his Descendants one, in my opinion. Nolte picks up Warrior’s sole nomination. Also, I didn’t think it would happen, but I was rooting for Andy Serkis to get some recognition for his performance capture work. With more work for him to do on the rebooted Planet of the Apes series and two Hobbit films, an honorary Oscar is going to be in order at some point. Plummer, with von Sydow at his heels.

Snubs:Shailene Woodley, The DescendantsJessica Chastain, The Tree of Life

The best part of The Descendants got snubbed here, and that just seems wrong. Even if Woodley getting that career boost means McCarthy misses out. Good for McCarthy, though, picking up a rare broad comedy nomination. Spencer takes it though, no question.

Writing (Original Screenplay)The Artist, Written by Michel HazanaviciusBridesmaids, Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen WiigMargin Call, Written by J.C. ChandorMidnight in Paris, Written by Woody AllenA Separation, Written by Asghar Farhadi

The nominations for the 84th Annual Academy Awards have finally been unveiled. Many of the categories have fallen in line just as most have predicted (I fared alright with my predictions, but not great), with Hugo scoring 11 nods, followed closely by The Artist with 10. The biggest surprises are War Horse and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close getting in for Best Picture, the exclusion of The Adventures of Tintin from Best Animated Feature, and The Tree of Life nabbing Best Picture and Best Director nods (hooray!). On the snub side of things, despite landing the most precursor critics awards of any other actor in the race thus far, Albert Brooks was denied a Best Supporting Actor nod for his stellar work in Drive (boo). Additionally, Tilda Swinton was overlooked for giving the best performance of the year in We Need to Talk About Kevin, and AMPAS has no love for Michael Fassbender‘s haunting work in Shame.

There’s still plenty to be happy about, as Gary Oldman has his first ever Oscar Nomination (yes, that’s right) and Melissa McCarthy is a Best Supporting Actress nominee. Hit the jump to check out the full list of nominees. The 84th Academy Awards will be presented by Billy Crystal on February 26th.

the-artist-movie-posterBEST PICTURE

The Artist The Descendants War Horse Moneyball The Tree of Life Midnight in Paris The Help Hugo Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

[Adam's Note: The big shocker here is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. The drama has landed virtually no precursor award recognition and most had completely written it off. Also surprising is the inclusion of War Horse, as it's near shut-out from the guilds had many pegging it dead. That said, I'm extremely happy about The Tree of Life.]

[I'm pretty happy to see Mara recognized for Dragon Tattoo, but the exclusion of Tilda Swinton's brilliant work in We Need to Talk About Kevin is ridiculous. She gave the best performance of the year in my opinion, and absolutely deserves at least a nomination.]

[The surprise here is Chandor, as many had pegged either Will Reiser for his terrific 50/50 script or Todd McCarthy for Win Win to take that final spot, though it's nice to see Wiig and Mumolo singled out. ]

[Happy to see the Tinker score recognized here, but my favorite of the year was Shore's beautiful Hugo score. Somewhat surprisingly, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' score for Dragon Tattoo failed to get a nod]

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Man or Muppet” – The Muppets “Real in Rio” –Rio

[While it's disappointing to see only two nominees (as I would have liked to see a couple Muppets numbers performed on Oscar night), I'm extremely happy to see Bret McKenzie's Man or Muppet singled out.]

The 83rd Annual Academy Award nominations have been announced with "Hugo" and "The Artist" leading the pack with eleven and ten nominations respectively.

Also faring well were "Moneyball" & "War Horse" with six, "The Descendants" & "Midnight in Paris" with five, "The Help" with four, and "The Tree of Life" & "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" with three.

There were some big surprises. Good ones included Gary Oldman for "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", pretty much the entire supporting actress category, and several inclusions that haven't really been mentioned in the race so far like Demian Bichir and Max Von Sydow's performances.

Those were outweighed by the bad ones though - "Shame" scored no nominations at all including Michael Fassbender's performance. No Tilda Swinton nod for "We Need To Talk About Kevin". "Tintin" and "Drive" only scored one nomination each and only in 'Best Score' and 'Sound Editing' rather than 'Animated Feature' and 'Supporting Actor' where they were shoe-ins.

Critically maligned films like "Albert Nobbs" and "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" scored several nominations, even the divisive "War Horse" surprised with how well it did.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLEDemian Bichir for "A Better Life"George Clooney for "The Descendants"Jean DuJardin for "The Artist"Gary Oldman for "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"Brad Pitt for "Moneyball"

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLEGlenn Close for "Albert Nobbs"Viola Davis for "The Help"Rooney Mara for "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"Meryl Streep for "The Iron Lady"Michelle Williams for "My Week with Marilyn"

DIRECTINGMichel Hazanavicius for "The Artist"Alexander Payne for "The Descendants"Martin Scorsese for "Hugo"Woody Allen for "Midnight in Paris"Terrence Malick for "The Tree of Life"

2012's Oscar nominations: the snubbing of Drive, and the cementing of the usual formula

Simon Brew

Based on some of the nominees, I wouldn't let some Academy voters hold the remote to my TV, yet alone vote in awards that can make tens of millions of dollars of difference to a film's bottom line.

This year's Oscar nominees, inevitably, caused much grumbling. But has the Academy picked its weakest line up of Best Picture nominees in years? Analysis here...

Published on Jan 24, 2012

In much the same way that the Eurovision Song Contest is no barometer of the musical talents of Europe, once again, the Oscar nominations have proven an unreliable indicator of what’s strong and what isn’t in the world of films. Just look at this year's nominations for proof.

What’s disappointing, though, is that, even after all these years, the same tricks clearly work. Even though article after article has been written on the overt tactics used to snag Oscar nominations, undeserving films still get put forward for what remains, also undeservedly, the top prize in film.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, for instance, is a film that’s clear Oscar bait. Does anyone really think that it’s a better all-round film than the scandalously snubbed Drive? Well, yes. Lots of people, clearly, and they all have access to an Academy ballot form. Drive’s omission from the Best Picture line-up is staggering (although, sigh, entirely predictable, given its moments of violence), though, and already, Twitter is wondering just what happened to the likes of Shame and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. And Senna, which, along with Shame, was snubbed altogether.

The answer? They didn’t fit the long-established formula. And we all know it.

Steven Spielberg knows the game, and that’s why his War Horse was pretty much a shoo-in from the moment it was announced. The Help was always a fair bet. And thus we find ourselves in the annual round of criticising films, mainly because they’ve been given exposure and credit they don’t really deserve.

Remember Tom Hooper, the Oscar-winning director of The King’s Speech? He got criticised last year, unfairly, because a bunch of people with ballot papers and pencils thought he did a better job than David Fincher. Any real film fan could tell you otherwise, but that’s hardly Hooper’s fault.

Often, it seems, we turn our ire on the films receiving award attention, rather than on those bestowing the gongs in the first place. Based on some of the nominees, I wouldn't let some Academy voters hold the remote to my TV, yet alone vote in awards that can make tens of millions of dollars of difference to a film's bottom line.

Because, let's face it, in many areas, those people bestowing have not had a good year.

The best picture line-up, arguably, is as weak as it’s been for years, all the more surprising given the number of strong candidates out there. Tyrannosaur, Drive, Shame, Young Adult, We Need To Talk About Kevin and Tinker Tailor head a list of films snubbed, but then it’s good to see recognition for The Artist, The Descendants, Moneyball (did you ever think you’d see Jonah Hill with an Oscar nomination, our of interest?) and Midnight In Paris. The Tree Of Life is inevitably a bit more divisive, but I’d happily take it over some of the more traditional nominees.

It’s not just the best picture category this year where the Oscar nominations have strayed further away from reason than usual. Whatever you think of Shame, Michael Fassbender’s extraordinary performance surely at least warranted a nomination. Did he get snubbed because he had an erection or something?

Likewise, Brendon Gleeson, for The Guard, warranted a shout (he did have pants on, after all), and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 50/50 must have run it close. In best actress, Charlize Theron is a glaring omission for Young Adult, too. I’m happy that Gary Oldman and Rooney Mara got due recognition, though.

The Hugo love is a bit strange. Leading the nominations with eleven, Hugo is a movie with its fair share of admirers, certainly, but that many? I’d not be in the least bit surprised to see it fail to walk away with a single statue. Personally, I’d not be grumbling about that either.

The best animated feature category, meanwhile, sees fit to reward something like the middling, safe, and unspectacular Puss In Boots, rather than Arthur Christmas. That’s bizarre. Disney’s Winnie The Pooh, even, would have been a better film to fill in the numbers. At least, with Tintin not put forward, Rango has a chance at the prize, although the strength of Chico And Rita is a far worthier opponent. No Pixar film this year, either. Rightly so, too.

Still, it’s the usual argument. Film taste is subjective, and the Oscars are the gongs that went to Titanic over L.A. Confidential, Dances With Wolves over Goodfellas, and so on.

And let’s be honest: a piece about the bizarre choices of the Oscars could and should be scheduled each and every year, and you can only hope that common sense prevails when the prizes themselves come to be given out. For all the furore, there are still a lot of solid nominations here, and The Artist, The Descendants and Midnight In Paris all deserve, to varying degrees, a good night.

If, however, come the end of Oscar night, the trophy cabinet for Hugo, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and War Horse is bulging, then you can be safe in the knowledge that the usual rules still apply.

Either way, any true film fan is all too aware that the Oscars are never a reliable indicator of what’s best. They’re more a cross section of what happens to be at least quite good, and what happens to be popular. 2012’s nominees? They’ve adhered firmly to that formula. Words can't describe, for me, just what a ridiculous snub the omission of Drive is in a contest that proclaims it's rewarding the 'best' (not favourite) film, but it's not the first to be overlooked, and it won't be the last.

My oh my, where do we begin? I have to admit, I never expected to have this many surprises and perhaps what is most surprising is the kind of support some films received in certain areas while very little in others. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's break this down on a category-by-category basis and see where it gets us and we'll begin with the obvious… Best Picture.

NOTE: If you haven't yet looked at the full list of Oscar nominees you can browse them in a new window right here.

I predicted eight Best Picture nominees and we ended up with nine. The only one of my picks not to be nominated was The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which throws up immediate flags considering it was replaced by Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and/or The Tree of Life. Now I'm not saying Extremely Loud and Tree of Life didn't deserve it, in fact I love Extremely Loud and love the nomination, but how do these two films, which received two and three nominations each, find their way into the Best Picture list ahead of a Dragon Tattoo, which not only received five nominations, but one of them was for Best Film Editing? Sure, Malick got a nom for Best Director, but Scott Rudin must have really worked the circuit to get a Picture nom for Extremely Loud.

Michael Fassbender in Shame and Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk about KevinMoving to Best Actor I don't think anyone that's been paying attention so far is too surprised by the nomination for Demian Bichir (A Better Life). but with his nomination as well as Gary Oldman (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) receiving his first ever Oscar nomination it means both Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar) and Michael Fassbender (Shame) find themselves on the outside looking in. For that matter both J. Edgar and Shame went home without any nominations, which is understandable for the former, but a *cough* shame for the latter.

The Best Actress category offers a welcome surprise in a nomination for Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), but to see Glenn Close nominated for Albert Nobbs over Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk about Kevin) is a travesty. In fact, add We Need to Talk about Kevin to the Shame pile of films that were entirely ignored by the Academy and wrongly so.

Albert Brooks in DriveBest Supporting Actress ended up being the only acting category where I got all five predictions correct as I moved Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) in at the last minute and it would appear I replaced the wrong actor in Best Supporting Actor category when I moved Jonah Hill (Moneyball) in for Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close). Von Sydow earned the only other nomination for Extremely Loud as Albert Brooks (Drive) was the odd man out in that category despite previous nominations from the Critics Choice Awards, Golden Globes and Independent Spirit Awards. I guess we should have paid close attention when he was snubbed by the Screen Actors Guild.

Best Director offered only one "surprise" and in that it's nothing anyone is necessarily surprised about as Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life) became the fifth nominee as Steven Spielberg (War Horse) and David Fincher (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), whom I predicted, were left off the list.

The Screenplay categories offer some interesting inclusions beginning in adapted where The Ides of March gets its only nomination, but it's in the Original category that I think most will be surprised as J.C. Chandor's screenplay for Margin Call gets a nom and Asghar Farhadi's Best Foreign Language-nominated A Separation gets a nom. The A Separation nom only irks me because I was predicting it would get nominated up until the last minute when I bumped it out of my predictions. Oh well, it's a worthy nom and glad I was wrong on that one.

Next we move to Animated feature where the Animated Branch goes with only one film I will call a major surprise, which is Kung Fu Panda 2. As I mentioned in my prediction piece, I just recently watched Wrinkles and it was easily one of the best, if not the best, animated film I saw from 2011. I didn't see A Cat in Paris or Chico & Rita, so I'm not surprised there, but to overlook Wrinkles for a simple-minded film such as Kung Fu Panda 2 is sort of pathetic. Oh, and look, another strike for performance capture as The Adventures of Tintin didn't make the cut.

In the Best Foreign Language category I have to say I surprised even myself by getting all five correct and I am particularly happy to see Belgium's Bullhead get a nomination. I wasn't so lucky in the Best Documentary category where my #1 pick, Project Nim, didn't even make the final cut, though I am very happy to see Undefeated did.

As far as the technical categories are concerned I'll only touch on a few things so as not to bore you, but I found it interesting to see The Descendants get a Film Editing nomination, which is big for its Best Picture chances and look at John Williams getting two nominations for Best Original Score for The Adventures of Tintin and War Horse. It sort of amazes me to see the music branch go with Williams in both instances when there were so many more interesting scores out there.

And finally, only two nominations for Best Song is a bit interesting as I now presume "Man or Muppet" from The Muppets has it in the bag. I guess the bright side here is we won't have to endure some lengthy interpretive dance sequence on Oscar night as they try to quickly dispatch with performing all five nominees.

And so here we are. Of the nine films nominated for Best Picture, The Artist remains the front-runner, but I'm not counting out The Descendants or Hugo as this could very easily become another Brokeback Mountain vs. Crash kind of year. All three of these films received Best Director, Screenplay and Editing nominations and while The Artist would appear to have the momentum, The Descendants has Alexander Payne and George Clooney and Hugo has Martin Scorsese. While I would lean more toward it being a fight between The Descendants and The Artist, the fact Hugo received the largest number of nominations (11) tells me not to count it out.

Now it's your turn. What surprised you? Who is your favorite to win? What snubs irked you the most?

Also, here's a little poll to see what your overall impression of the nominations was:

Are You Satisfied with the 2012 Oscar Nominations?

Yup, they pretty much got it all right It's hit and miss, more hit than miss though Not really, a lot is missing Not at all

Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards were announced today (Tuesday, January 24) by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and 2010 Oscar® nominee Jennifer Lawrence. Brace yourselves for the surprises and omissions. The nominees were a little more than crazy this year to say the least – nine best picture nominees! This year’s balloting rules allowed for the possibility of between five and ten Best Picture nominees, and for the first time in Academy history, nine films have been nominated in that category.

Now for the shockers. No Michael Fassbender in the Best Actor category…no Albert Brooks in Best Supporting Actor category…no ADVENTURES OF TINTIN or CARS 2 in the Animated category! Terrence Malick and THE TREE OF LIFE both saw some love with 2 nods this morning. How grand that Rooney Mara, Demián Bichir, Jonah Hill, and Nick Nolte are coming to the big party this year! It was so gratifying to see little animated films that could – A CAT IN PARIS and CHICO AND RITA. The biggest jaw drop by far was EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE making the Best Picture cut.

With his two nominations for Original Score this year, John Williams now has a total of 47 nominations. He ranks second to Walt Disney as the most-nominated individual in Oscar® history. Among living persons, Woody Allen, who is also nominated twice this year for a total of 23 nominations, is second only to Williams.

Meryl Streep extends her lead as the most-nominated performer in Oscar history with her 17th nomination this year.

In the acting categories, nine individuals are first-time nominees. Two of the nominees (George Clooney, Meryl Streep) are previous acting winners. Only Michelle Williams was also nominated last year, for her leading role in Blue Valentine.

Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg, with their nominations for War Horse, now share the record for most Best Picture nominations for individual producers with seven each. Kennedy’s previous nominations were for E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), The Color Purple (1985), The Sixth Sense (1999), Seabiscuit (2003), Munich (2005) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008). Spielberg’s other Best Picture nominations were for E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, The Color Purple, Schindler’s List (1993), for which he won the award, Saving Private Ryan (1998), Munich and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006).

With his nominations for directing and writing Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen passes Billy Wilder in becoming a seven-time double nominee for Directing and Writing on the same film.

A Separation is the first screenplay written in Farsi to receive a Writing nomination.

For the second time, George Clooney has received nominations in two different categories for two different feature films in the same year. He is nominated for his leading role in The Descendants and in the Adapted Screenplay category for The Ides of March. In 2005, he was named Best Supporting Actor for Syriana and was nominated in the Original Screenplay category for Good Night, and Good Luck.

Pina is the first 3D film nominated in the Documentary Feature category.

The Artist is the tenth predominantly black-and-white film to be nominated for Cinematography since 1967, when the separate category for black-and-white cinematography was eliminated. Previously nominated films were In Cold Blood (1967), The Last Picture Show (1971), Lenny (1974), Raging Bull (1981), Zelig (1983), Schindler’s List (1993), The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001), Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) and The White Ribbon (2009).

Sherak and Lawrence, who was nominated for an Academy Award® for her lead performance in “Winter’s Bone,” announced the nominees in 10 of the 24 Award categories at a 5:38 a.m. PT live news conference attended by more than 400 international media representatives. Lists of nominations in all categories were then distributed to the media in attendance and online via the official Academy Awards website, www.oscar.com.

Academy members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominations are selected by vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees.

Nominations ballots were mailed to the 5,783 voting members in late December and were returned directly to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the international accounting firm, for tabulation.

Official screenings of all motion pictures with one or more nominations will begin for members this weekend at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Screenings also will be held at the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood and in London, New York and the San Francisco Bay Area.

All active and life members of the Academy are eligible to select the winners in all categories, although in five of them – Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject and Foreign Language Film – members can vote only if they have seen all of the nominated films in those categories.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

“This afternoon in Berlin I learned that I was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Actor. You may have heard this before, but it has never been truer than it is for me today; it is extremely humbling, gratifying, and delightful to have your work recognized by the Academy, and to join the celebrated ranks of previous nominees and colleagues. Amazing.”

“It’s a shot in the arm for a young kid of 82 to receive an Academy Award nomination this morning. My gratitude to Writer/Director Michael Mills, The Academy and to everyone involved with ‘Beginners’” -Christopher Plummer

Actress in a Leading RoleGlenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”Viola Davis in “The Help”Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Writing (Original Screenplay)“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi